In The Arena

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It’s the 4th of July and while the whole nation is sleeping, why don’t we get cracking on a week full of great jobs?

Check out the almost 5,000 new jobs in this week’s issue and then come back to read the words of this great American:

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”

That was Teddy Roosevelt, folks, speaking at the Sorbonne in 1910. But he could have just as easily been speaking to you.

Readers, the critics, those professional naysayers and doom-and-gloomers, will tell you: “No. It can’t be done. Don’t try. Give up. Why do you have to stand out? Give up.”

But don’t mistake their words for truth, my friends. Don’t buy into their message of settle-settle and underachievement.

Because you’ve been blessed with talent, because you’ve had the fortunate happenstance to be born in this great country (or emigrate, or visit!), because you’re one of the leading professionals in this land, you have a higher calling this Fourth of July, Readers.

You need to use the great powers you’ve been given, you need to find the forum where your talents will shine, you need to be in that place where your spirits soar and the work seems like… victory to you.

So enjoy this 4th, and then find your new arena. I’ll be there with you all the way.

A LISTING IS NOT A LISTING IN YOUR $100K+ JOB HUNT

A job listing is a job listing, right?

Nope.

A job listing is only as good as the attention paid to it.

And a recruiter pays better attention to the candidates from the best sources.

Let me explain.

Say you’re a recruiter looking to find more VP candidates. Where would you most expect to find her?:

a) Business School Alumni Club
b) A Yankees-Red Sox game
c) Roller-blading on the beach

Well, b) and c) would be a heck of a lot of fun, but a) is the answer you’d get from recruiters.

Why? A higher percentage of attendees are going to be VP-level.

Similarly, where would you go to find VP-level job-seekers?

a) Ladders.com
b) Monster
c) Craigslist

A recruiter really wants to spend his time interviewing great candidates and placing them in jobs, not scrounging around the internet. That’s why they come to Ladders.com.

And that, dear Readers, is where your $25 / month goes.

We’re at the trade shows… for you.

We’re burning up the phone lines coast to coast… for you.

We’re marketing and selling and shouting to the roof of the world the praises of our fantastic 430,000 subscribers… for you.

Your five dozen $100K+-job-loving fanatics here at Ladders.com are doing it day-in and day-out, with almost 5,000 new jobs this week, and we do it all… for you!

Marc Cenedella
is the Founder, Executive Chairman and CEO of Ladders, Inc., the comprehensive career resource dedicated to helping professionals ‘Manage, Market and Move-up’ in their careers. Over the last decade, Ladders has transformed the way job candidates and recruiters connect online. Follow Marc on Twitter at @Cenedella.